Chancellor Nicholas Dirks, Barbour and her interim replacement, Michael Williams, appeared at the news conference. Dirks formally announced what filtered out Thursday: Barbour will leave her position, which she has held for 10 years, on July 15 and Williams, a former Cal wrestler, will replace her until a permanent successor can be found.

Williams, speaking after the news conference, said he “doesn’t have interest” in the job on a permanent basis. He retired from a career in finance in 2009 and has been active on campus in recent years, including serving as vice chair of the UC Berkeley Foundation.

“I don’t have interest in sports management as a profession,” Williams said. “I love this university and I’m deeply committed to what it stands for. This is an opportunity to continue working on what I’ve done as a volunteer.”

Barbour noted the symbolic significance of holding Friday’s event in a club room at the stadium. She spearheaded the extensive renovation of the nearly century-old facility in 2011 and ’12, along with the adjacent athletic training facility.

The upgrade counts as Barbour’s landmark achievement in many ways – but it also brings lingering questions about the debt, estimated in June 2013 at $445 million.

Barbour insisted the school is $2 million to $3 million ahead of projections in raising money to pay down the debt. She said sales of premium seats underperformed but stock-market investments and naming rights – Cal’s football team will play this season on “Kabam Field at Memorial Stadium” – have over-performed.

“I’m confident we can service the debt,” Barbour said.

As for the significance of rebuilding the stadium, a project spurred by seismic issues, she said, “It’s huge, because the campus has been talking about it for 30 years. A lot of people said it couldn’t be done – but here we are.”